"Yes, Marshal, I understand. Please rest assured."
Senior staff officer Blanu set down the Radio Snail, his knuckles gently tapping the table twice, his brow furrowed.
He looked up and glanced around. In the office, several colleagues had already stopped their work, their eyes uniformly fixed on him.
"The situation is worse than expected. The adults in the Holy Land are extremely furious about this and ordered the fastest possible update on the bounty for this group."
Blanu stood up and said in a deep voice:
"Gather the rest of the staff in the command department and prepare for a meeting! I want a complete combat power analysis report within an hour, and within two hours, a new bounty plan must be drafted!"
———
New World, on an unknown island.
Morgans was holding a cup of coffee, pacing back and forth irritably behind the sofa.
"The results are out, President!"
The wooden door of the office was slammed open, and his suit-clad deputy burst in, panting, "Shano refused the Seven Warlords of the Sea, and the Navy Headquarters' high-ups are furious! The new warrant has already come through!"
"Refused?!"
Morgans snatched the document, "Let me see!"
He browsed through the entire intelligence file at the fastest speed, his eyes again shifting to the new bounty order number.
Crash!
The coffee cup in Morgans' claw fell to the ground, the brown liquid splashing onto the white feathers.
The president of the World Economic News Agency was oblivious, his bird beak exaggeratedly grinning to his ears:
"Eehahaha! Truly didn't disappoint me, big news! This is headline news enough to shock the whole ocean!"
Not even needing his editing!
The news of Hanafuda's murder can be released, along with the rejection of the Seven Warlords' pact. Shano escaped from the renowned Navy Hero Garp's grasp...
Adding to the final heavyweight news—Shano's group's new bounty!
Morgans could hardly imagine how this newspaper would sell worldwide!
He grabbed the Radio Snail on the desk and dialed the printing factory's number:
"It's me, President Morgans!"
"What? Tomorrow morning's paper is already printing? Immediately stop all current printing! Throw those waste papers in the trash; I want to personally draft tomorrow's front page!"
Once the call was hung up, Morgans returned to his desk and hummed a tune, excitedly taking out the feather pen from the inkwell.
The headline wasn't yet concocted, but he effortlessly and skillfully wrote the first two words of the headline on the blank paper:
[Shocking—]
......
The next morning.
In the office, Morgans lay sprawled across the desk at present, his bird beak slightly ajar, feathers scattered messily on the desk, evidently having fallen into a sleep after staying up late drafting.
Beside his claw lay a feather pen with ink yet to dry.
The desktop was piled with sheets of scrap paper densely written with repeatedly modified headlines.
Being an extremely passionate news worker, Morgans always had high demands for his text.
The finalized draft of the newspaper's front page had already been carefully taken away by his deputy and sent to the printing factory.
The pungent smell of ink permeated the factory building.
Brand new newspapers flew off the assembly line like snowflakes, swiftly bound into piles and packed into the news bird's mailbag.
"The first batch of newspapers is ready!"
"Release the birds! Release them immediately!"
With a command, countless news birds donning mailbags, flapped their wings and soared into the sky, heading toward the Four Seas with the morning sun.
Spreading these weight-filled big news pieces to every corner of the world...
————
New World.
A grand banquet was being held on the Moby Dick.
To celebrate the end of their war against the Hundred Beasts Pirates.
Though the Four Emperors maintained balance overall between each other, it was not always peace and quiet.
There were always some clashes and collisions.
This not-so-large war was a microcosm.
The main commanders from both sides did not personally attend; only a small portion of officers led their subordinates into battle.
The Whitebeard Pirates ultimately achieved victory, severing the Hundred Beasts' claws stretching from Wano Country, successfully expanding their territory by a bit.
On the deck, a bonfire blazed, wine barrels stacked like mountains.
Marco held a wine glass aloft and jumped onto the main mast's cross beam.
"Everyone!" he laughed heartily, "For our new territory, for our grand victory—cheers!"
"Ohohoho—!!!"
The crew responded boisterously, the clinking of glasses weaving with hearty laughter.
"Gurarararara!"
Whitebeard's laughter exploded like thunder, as he sat on his exclusive giant chair, Murakumogiri tilted on his shoulder, gulping down an entire barrel of liquor:
"Kaido's little cubs are still too green! How could they compare with my sons!"
"Hey, old man! Drinking a whole barrel in one go is way too unfair!"
Captain of Squad 4 Saki emerged from behind, disgruntled as he took the remaining barrel away, "For your health, drink less alcohol!"
"Saki!" Whitebeard shouted angrily, "You party pooper, give that wine back to me!"
"No, no, not giving it!"
Saki hid the barrel behind him as Whitebeard snatched it, the two struggling over it, causing the surrounding pirates to laugh heartily.
Just then, a news bird flapped its wings and landed on the ship's edge, a fresh newspaper clamped in its mouth.
"Hey, Teach!"
Saki called over to a nearby crew member, "I'm busy here; go grab the paper and see what big news is there today!"
"No problem, Captain!"
Blackbeard Teach grinned, showing a mouth missing several teeth:
"Zehahahaha! Little white bird, timing is perfect. In my opinion, the newspaper must have learned the war result and hurriedly reported overnight to announce the Whitebeard Pirates' victory to the world!"
He quickly walked over, took the newspaper from the news bird, and casually tossed a few coins over.
He cheerfully patted the bird's head, watching it fly away.
However.
When Teach unfolded the newspaper, his smile instantly froze.
No Whitebeard, no Hundred Beasts, the front-page headline had completely nothing to do with them.
Occupying the layout was strikingly a massive bounty order, the black-haired boy carrying a sword was laughing wildly in the photo.
And above was a bold and enlarged special headline!
——"Shocking Grand Line! Killed two Seven Warlords of the Sea, the noisiest pirate, Great Blade Sword Master Shano refuses Seven Warlords invitation, World Government enraged, emergency bounty increase!"
"Zehahaha... This is truly..." Blackbeard squinted, eyeing the headline, muttering quietly, a strange light flashing in his eyes.
"Hey, Teach!"
Marco noticed his odd response, jumped down from the mast, and snatched the paper: "What news surprised you so much?"
When he saw the contents, his pupils shrank suddenly, exclaiming in disbelief:
"Ten billion?! A whole ten billion Belly? This guy's bounty doubled directly?!"